THE 'strangulation' of Deeside by congestion on the A494/A550 could soon be over thanks to Welsh Assembly plans to widen the carriageway.

THE 'strangulation' of Deeside by congestion on the A494/A550 could soon be over thanks to Welsh Assembly plans to widen the carriageway.

Congestion problems have always been present and Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami said earlier this year that Deeside was 'suffocating under the strain of increasing traff ic and would never recover economically unless major steps were taken to alleviate the weight of traff ic'.

But now in the new year the Assembly is to fund those changes. The growth of Deeside Industrial Park, the rebirth of Mostyn Docks as a travel and trading port and the explosion of major industrial players like Airbus UK and Toyota have driven up traff ic levels as HGVs carrying goods and materials compete with commuters on the dual carriageway known as the 'Gateway to Wales'.

The Assembly plans, which are part of a &#xA3;37m trunk road improvement scheme for the whole of Wales, will see the 'Gateway' given a side entrance in the form of a separate parallel lane linked to the industrial park to enable larger vehicles to avoid using the A494/A550 dual carriageway to get on to Sealand Road.

'The new lane will stretch for

5.4km,' said an Assembly spokesman. 'It will link Deeside Industrial Park to the Drome Corner junction near Sealand and will give traff ic another option.'